"I’ll oppose higher taxes…" proclaimed then Assemblyman Lou Correa in a letter (see it here) he mailed to Central Orange County voters as he made his case for why he, and not his opponent, should be elected to the State Senate. If his promise, emphased in boldfaced text, in a personally signed letter to voters wasn’t emphatic enough, in terms of where Correa promised he would be on tax increases, then there was the glossy full-color mailing, with the words emblazed on the front: "Where I stand on… Taxes." Open up the mailing (see it here… Read More

"I’ll oppose higher taxes…" proclaimed then Assemblyman Lou Correa in a letter (see it here) he mailed to Central Orange County voters as he made his case for why he, and not his opponent, should be elected to the State Senate. If his promise, emphased in boldfaced text, in a personally signed letter to voters wasn’t emphatic enough, in terms of where Correa promised he would be on tax increases, then there was the glossy full-color mailing, with the words emblazed on the front: "Where I stand on… Taxes." Open up the mailing (see it here… Read More

From today’s Wall Street Journal Political Diary E-mail…

Hasta La Vista, Arnold

Some things never change in the Golden State. Seven weeks into the fiscal year, California still has no budget and faces a Pacific Ocean-sized $15 billion deficit. On Wednesday, Governor Arnold Schwarzennegger offered a "compromise" plan that kicks the legs out from his own party with a big new sales tax increase. "It’s time to put ideology aside," he insisted.

Now he faces a revolt from Republicans in the legislature who think this is precisely the time to be ideological. "Any tax increase plan won’t pass with Republican votes — absolutely not," a… Read More

Jerry Brown vs. Chuck Shumer.

Gentlemen, to your corners!… Read More

Veteran FlashReport leaders are quite familiar with the writings of Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Weintraub. I have actually known Dan for almost two decades, going back to when he actually worked for the Orange County Register. Dan’s insightful and inciteful columns are always great reading and we almost always provide FR readers to links to his regular columns in the Bee on our main page daily news links. In addition to being a recognized columnist who has an important impact on policy and politics in the Golden State, Dan (pictured) was truly a pioneer in launching his Insider blog on the Sacramento Bee website years ago — serving as an inspiration to many of us who followed him.

In June, I had a chance to sit down with Dan in Sacramento, and he enthusiastically shared with me that he would be spearheading a new endeavor for the Sacramento Bee called The Conversation. At the time, I told him that once it was up and… Read More

Come Hell or High-water Ron George likes getting his way. Whether it isre-defining marriage to his liking, ignoring previous decisions to get the parental consent result he wanted, violating private property rights or religious rights, Ron George and the Imperial Court he runs gets his way.

Now, George through the Judicial Council is poised to get his way with courthouses and a 10 billion dollar revenue bond through SB 1407.

SB 1407 raises fees on all kinds of court filings including parking tickets, family court filings, traffic violations and attending traffic school in order to get 5 billion dollars worth of money for courthouse construction.

Whats wrong with that? Lots of reasons.

Why are courthouses getting special budgetary treatment over other budgetary items? Shouldn’t the General fund make them a priority?Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association thinks so, they oppose the bill.

Maybe we could re- allocate a mere $500 million a year and not pay billions in interest. It takes 10 billion in fees to get 5 billion in buildings.

This is an end run around the people of California that rejected courthouse bonds in the past. An end… Read More

Veteran FlashReport leaders are quite familiar with the writings of Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Weintraub. I have actually known Dan for almost two decades, going back to when he actually worked for the Orange County Register. Dan’s insightful and inciteful columns are always great reading and we almost always provide FR readers to links to his regular columns in the Bee on our main page daily news links. In addition to being a recognized columnist who has an important impact on policy and politics in the Golden State, Dan (pictured) was truly a pioneer in launching his Insider blog on the Sacramento Bee website years ago — serving as an inspiration to many of us who followed him.

In June, I had a chance to sit down with Dan in Sacramento, and he enthusiastically shared with me that he would be spearheading a new endeavor for the Sacramento Bee called The Conversation. At the time, I told him that once it was up and… Read More

The current occupant of the Capitol’s smallest legislative office welcomes Assemblywoman Parra to "the doghouse" (which is the nickname for the smallest office in the building).… Read More